WA hospital contamination 'scaremongering'

WA's health minister says there's no need to worry about contaminated equipment at a Perth hospital. Source: AAP

WA'S health minister has dismissed as "scaremongering" claims that patients at Perth's new hospital have been operated on with contaminated equipment.

BUT Kim Hames has again admitted that Fiona Stanley Hospital has had problems with sterilisation, which is done by Serco, and says the state government is not satisfied with the private contractor's record for the service.

Australian Nurses Federation state secretary Mark Olsen said patients had been kept under anaesthetic for extended periods while nurses looked around for clean instruments.Mr Olsen said patients who had undergone surgery should be tested for serious diseases, including HIV, because there was no guarantee that equipment was safe, saying management was playing "Russian roulette" with patients' lives."It's a small price to pay for peace of mind," Mr Olsen told reporters on Tuesday.Asked about the union's claims patients should be tested, Dr Hames replied: "Well, that's just nonsense - they're scaremongering."There has been no risk to patients according to the advice I've received."There is no reason to be alarmed and no reason to be concerned."But the minister said Serco had until Friday to respond to a breach-of-service notice issued in December.Dr Hames said health department workers had been helping Serco since February after receiving complaints that equipment was not making it to operating theatres on time.Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook said Dr Hames had given Serco too many chances and the sterilisation service should be removed from its contract.Mr Olsen said nurses would consider industrial action if nothing was done about their concerns.Members will hold a stop-work meeting at the hospital on Wednesday.ALLEGED CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS AT FIONA STANLEY HOSPITAL- Bone fragments found on a drill before it was used to fix a broken hand- Patient's hand surgery was delayed for three hours because equipment used the previous day was not sterilised- Heart surgery patient was kept under anaesthetic because equipment was missing sterile pieces- Patient with a broken jaw kept under anaesthetic because staff were given the wrong equipment- Sterilised pack labelled as being a light cable and camera was discovered to be a drill during surgery- Kit to fix a patient's broken leg was missing a screwdriver- Improvised equipment was used during liver surgery because a piece was missing from sterilised kit

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Depp's finger keeps Pirates waiting

FILMING on the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie has been delayed further following Johnny Depp's hand injury.

THE star, 51, flew back to the US for surgery earlier this month after the accident in Australia, where he was filming the fifth movie in the swashbuckling franchise.

Filming was originally expected to be delayed for two weeks after producers said that the injury would have a "minimal impact" on the shoot at the Gold Coast.But after it was discovered that Depp, who plays Captain Jack Sparrow in the movies, needed a pin inserted in a finger, it has now been extended to at least four weeks to around April 15, The Hollywood Reporter says.A spokesman told the publication that filming depended on Depp's recuperation.Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales also stars Javier Bardem and Orlando Bloom and is still expected to be released in July 2017.

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Hockey taking time in lieu, says Abbott

Tony Abbott has defended the time Joe Hockey has spent on a defamation case against Fairfax Media. Source: AAP

TONY Abbott has defended the time Joe Hockey has spent at the hearing of a defamation case against Fairfax Media.

THE treasurer is suing the company over a series of articles, posters and tweets published by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times about his relationship with the North Sydney Forum.

The articles suggested he provided "privileged access" to members of the forum who paid up to $22,000 in annual membership fees.Mr Hockey has been in court on Monday and Tuesday giving evidence to support his case.Mr Abbott said anyone who knew the treasurer would know he was working all weekend."So I suppose maybe he is having a bit of time in lieu today," he told reporters in Kalgoorlie."I think it's pretty unreasonable, if I may say so, for people to start bandying around that kind of question."

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Keeping power networks 'risky', says Baird

NSW Premier Mike Baird says he is confident his privatisation plans for the state's electricity networks will raise vital billions despite describing them as risky assets.

MR Baird said he is "very confident" his plan for a 99-year-lease of half the state's "poles and wires" will raise enough money to drive a $20 billion infrastructure program.

The premier has previously said privatisation will raise $13 billion, with a further $7 billion from interest and federal government funds.On Tuesday he said future income from retaining public ownership of the electricity network was unreliable."These assets are risky, there's no doubt about it," he said."You can't rely on the income in the long-term ... which is why it makes all the more sense for us to lease out 49 per cent."We rent it out, we grab those proceeds and we build the rail, the roads, the hospitals and the schools that we desperately need."NSW Treasurer Andrew Constance attacked Labor leader Luke Foley on Tuesday, saying the Opposition is misleading the public by claiming the state's electricity network pays back $1.7 billion to taxpayers each year.A half-yearly review of the NSW budget, released in December, shows that future returns from the electricity network would drop from $1.17 billion this financial year to $407 million in 2017/18.Mr Foley said during his election campaign launch on Sunday that the networks return $1.7 billion to the state's coffers each year.While the networks did return $1.7 billion 2012/13 and 2013/14 - at a time when network operators were spending heavily on upgrades criticised as "gold plating" - regulatory changes mean future returns are expected to be lower."Luke Foley is claiming $1.7 billion every year in relation to returns to government from electricity consumers in this state," Mr Constance said."The budget papers are clear."They show that the $1.7 billion is not there."The dividends and tax returns from owning the state's electricity poles and wires have become a contested topic ahead of the March 28 NSW election.Mr Baird has declared there is "no Plan B" if 49 per cent of the network is not privatised to raise new funds for transport, education and hospitals.On Tuesday Mr Constance did not repeat the estimate that the network would raise $13 billion, saying the final price for any sale would be determined in April by a decision on power prices from the industry regulator."The long line of interest in these businesses is very significant and I would be confident that we will not only receive retention value we will exceed it," he said.Mr Constance also said "private sector discipline" would lower costs at electricity companies following a sale, benefiting consumers.Labor has attacked the electricity networks proposal as handing valuable public assets over to private operators.

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Frozen berry scare prompts blood ban

People who ate berries linked to the hepatitis A scare have been banned from donating blood. Source: AAP

PEOPLE who ate berries linked to the hepatitis A scare have been banned from donating blood for two months.

ANYONE who has already donated after eating the berries is asked to contact the Red Cross Blood Service so they can identify any risks posed to those receiving blood.

While hepatitis A typically poses a very low risk to the blood supply, Red Cross Blood Service spokesman Shaun Inguanzo says the situation is being closely monitored.He said hepatitis A is almost exclusively spread by ingesting faecal-contaminated food."As a purely precautionary matter, the Blood Service is asking donors who consumed Nannas Frozen Mixed Berries or Creative Gourmet Mixed Berries and then gave blood either on or after 1 November 2014 to contact us on 13 14 95," Mr Inguanzo told AAP on Tuesday."This will help us identify whether or not we need to take further action to minimise the unlikely event of hepatitis A being spread via blood transfusion."The Blood Service screens blood donations for 70 diseases, but not hepatitis A due to its low risk.As an added precaution, donors who advise they have eaten the recalled Nannas berries, but not yet donated, will not be able to donate for two months from the date they last ate them.A Victorian health department spokesman said there had been no further Victorian cases of Hepatitis A linked to the berries."We're monitoring notifications of Hepatitis A to see if any are implicated with the particular food.Patties Foods added Nanna's Raspberries 1kg packs to its consumer recall on Tuesday morning.

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Jakarta floods kill one, 6000 displaced

FLOODING in the Indonesian capital has left at least one person dead and nearly 6000 displaced, police say.

PARTS of Jakarta were under as much as two metres of water after heavy rain fell since Sunday night.

One person died after being swept away by floodwaters in the city centre, police spokesman Ronny Sompie said on Tuesday.

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Al-Jazeera journalist release 'imminent'

CANADA'S foreign minister says the release of Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy from a prison in Egypt is "imminent".

FAHMY, a dual Egyptian-Canadian citizen, has relinquished his Egyptian citizenship as prerequisite to his deportation, his brother said on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister John Baird spoke Monday to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a day after Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste was released after more than a year in prison. Baird gave no specific time frame for Fahmy's release, and his spokesman declined further comment.Greste, Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed were arrested in December 2013 and later convicted over their coverage of the violent crackdown on Islamist protests that year. They were sentenced to between seven and 10 years.Baird spoke with his Egyptian counterpart on Sunday and said he welcomed Greste's release. He said he remained hopeful that Fahmy's case will be resolved in "short order".Fahmy's brother, Adel Fahmy, said authorities gave him a choice: "dropping the nationality or his freedom"."It was a very difficult decision. Mohamed is very proud and comes from a patriotic family of high ranking military and policemen that have defended this country and fought its wars," Adel Fahmy said.He said many of those family members are offended and upset at Mohamed for dropping his nationality and don't want to even say goodbye to him.Adel Fahmy said his brother was devastated but his fiance and his mother told him do it. He said authorities told his brother he would be allowed to return as a tourist.Egyptian authorities had accused the three Al Jazeera journalists of providing a platform for ousted president Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, now declared a terrorist organisation. But authorities provided no concrete evidence.

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US home price gains weakened in December

US home values rose at a modest pace in December, a sign there are too few potential buyers to bid up prices.

REAL estate data provider CoreLogic says home prices rose 5 per cent in December from 12 months earlier. That is down from the 5.5 per cent price gain recorded in November. It's much lower than the double-digit gains that occurred last year.

Yet those much larger increases in early 2014 priced many potential buyers out of the market. Sales actually slipped last year, after several years of gains. Smaller price increases, along with lower mortgage rates, may spur a rebound in sales.The biggest yearly gains were in Colorado, Texas, New York, Nevada and Michigan. Just three states saw prices fall compared with 12 months earlier: Maryland, Vermont and Connecticut.

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S&P pay $1.38b in US settlement

STANDARD & Poor's is paying about $US1.38 billion ($A1.77 billion) to settle US government allegations that it knowingly inflated its ratings of risky mortgage investments that helped trigger the financial crisis.

THE McGraw Hill Financial subsidiary Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC reached a settlement with the Justice Department over ratings issued from 2004 through 2007.

The settlement also resolves lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of 19 US states and the District of Columbia.The Justice Department filed civil fraud charges against S&P two years ago this week. It accused the company of failing to warn investors that the housing market was collapsing in 2006 because doing so would hurt its ratings business.S&P will also pay $US125 million in a separate settlement with the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

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British man to swim Antarctic in Speedos

BRITISH endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh is embarking on the "most dangerous swims ever undertaken in the world" to call for a vast protected area in Antarctic waters.

THE swimmer is taking to the waters of Antarctica's Southern Ocean, braving freezing temperatures, leopard seals and killer whales in nothing more than his Speedo swimwear to raise awareness of the need to protect the region's pristine Ross Sea.

Over the next five weeks he will undertake five swims, four of which will be further south than the current world record - held by Mr Pugh - for the most southerly swim, in waters expected to be as cold as around minus 1.7C.The swims include a long distance swim around Cape Adare, home to the largest colony of Adele penguins in the world and patrolled by the penguins' predators, leopard seals.He will also be swimming at Cape Evans, where British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott built a hut before his journey to the South Pole.Another swim will take place in the Bay of Whales, so-named by explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton due to the large number of killer whales seen in the area.Mr Pugh said he was worried about the leopard seals, which could try to grab him in their powerful jaws and drag him under, the killer whales and the bitterly cold water, which he has already experienced swimming in the Arctic."When you have been there before and felt that pain, it's all the more daunting to go back there," he said."These will collectively be the most dangerous swims ever undertaken in the world".Pugh hopes his swims will encourage the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), 24 countries and the EU responsible for creating marine protected areas in the region, to designate the sea as a protected area.

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BP reports quarterly loss of $US4.4bn

BP has sounded a sombre note on the oil industry, saying producers may have to adjust to an extended period of lower prices, as the company reports a fourth-quarter loss of $US4.4 billion ($A5.64 billion).

THE London-based oil company followed Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron in curbing spending after the price of crude oil dropped about 50 per cent last year.

The industry is going through a period that is much weaker than anyone anticipated, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said during a press conference on Tuesday."We're in a raging gale," Dudley said. "It's a bit of a new world."The net loss reported by BP, which posted a profit of $US1.04 billion in the fourth quarter a year earlier, includes a $US5 billion write-down on the value of inventories.After stripping out the effect of the drop in oil prices, BP reported a quarterly loss of $US969 million, compared with a profit of $US1.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.BP plans to cut costs by as much as $US6 billion this year, reducing exploration expenditures and postponing some projects, including development of the Mad Dog field in the Gulf of Mexico.Dudley said the company was beginning 2015 in a stronger position because of divestments made in wake of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP was already in the process of shrinking and simplifying its operations, with an additional $US5 billion of divestments projected for this year."Our focus must now be on resetting BP: managing and rebalancing our capital program and cost base for the new reality of lower prices while always maintaining safe, reliable and efficient operations," Dudley said.

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